Progressive Revival

How Does a President Chose a Church?

My good friend Amy Sullivan is a very hard act to follow in any writing assignment, and she covered this topic very well for Time last week. But in an attempt to help provide a little perspective for our good friends on the other side of the Pond, here are my thoughts on the difficulties Obama will face as he and his family try to decide where to worship.

Amid all the speculation aboutdecisions president-elect Obama will have to make when he takes office, the questionof where will he and his family go to church has been getting a lot ofattention recently.

To some, this question may notrise to the level of, say, how Obama plans to tackle the banking crisis. Afterall, neither Ronald Reagan nor George W Bush even went to church whilepresident. The Clintons chose a local Methodistchurch with a strong youth programme for Chelsea,and the first President Bush went to an Episcopalian church. Jimmy Carteractually taught Sunday school while president at a Baptist church in Virginia.

Yet there are several reasonsthat Obama choice of church will be more scrutinised than that of any otherAmerican president. In a country where nearly half the voters attend churchweekly and another third attend at least once a month, Obama’s ability to talkabout his faith helped lead the Democrats out of the political wilderness ofbeing viewed by many voters as hostile to religion.

Furthermore, race and faith in America havealways been intertwined, and the black church has historically served as thepolitical and social epicentre of the African-American community. And so in thesame way that Americans wondered what kind of influence the Pope would havewhen Kennedy became America’s first Catholic president, they now wait to seewhat role the local church will play in the life of America’s first blackpresident.

Combine all of these factors, andObama’s allies will be looking for him to make an inspired choice that helpsreshape America‘sfaith and racial dialogue … and his enemies will be looking for a choice theycan use to undermine his presidency. So putting aside the potential effect ofhis church choice on his immortal soul, the political stakes will clearly behigh.

For example, many people assumeObama will worship at an African American church as he did in Chicago. But Obama has often quoted MartinLuther King’s critique that America‘smost segregated hour is 11am on Sunday. If the first black president chooses toworship in a predominantly black church, does that call into question whetherhe really thinks this is a problem or perhaps imply that it’s a problem onlywhite people are responsible for fixing? Conversely, if Obama chooses apredominantly white church, many black people in this country will feelabandoned.

The same sort of dilemma appliesto his choice of denomination. Most past presidents have come into office witha clear denominational affiliation, which helped narrow their options. ButObama was a member of Trinity United Church ofChrist (UCC) in Chicago,an anomaly in the UCC for being a predominantly African-American church in amostly white denomination. The UCC is also one of the most liberaldenominations in America,and joining another UCC church would inevitably raise the issue of JeremiahWright again. But it is also the denomination he has belonged to for his entireadult life, and people would read all kinds of things into his decision toleave it.

Another question is whether hewill choose a church with a social justice and prophetic tradition that reflectshis theology but risks another Jeremiah Wright moment. Or should he chose amore “relational” church focused on community and Christian growththat would provide a nurturing environment for his daughters but might beviewed by supporters as the easy way out?

It’s hard enough to find a newchurch without being president. So what is a president, a father, a husband,and an inspiration to an entire race and new generation of American voters todo? Despite (or perhaps because of) all the political implications of thisdecision, there will not be a “smart” political choice. All will be fraughtwith peril. But Obama proved throughout the campaign that often the bestpolitical choice is just to do what feels right and then honestly communicatewhy he did so to the American people.

President-elect Obama and Mrs. Obama will choose to go to a church that they feel “at home’ in, and it could be a UCC. OR they might actually NOT attend church. It really shouldn’t make any difference to anyone where he and family go, or if they choose not to go at all.

interesting that now he is elected Obama is worshipping in the same place most Americans worship – each Sunday since his election that spiritual giant (well if you believe this blog anyway) has worshipped at the Gym!!!
Interesting……he spent the last few weeks of the election sitting in church pews across the south – now he worships in the Gym! good ole Christian Messiah Barack eh!
Interestingly this blog still can’t help itself with the lies it puts out (sorry as we know from the election campaign if the left says it it doesn’t matter if its true or not, it becomes true the moment they say it) they say George Bush never attended church – well even he managed to get to church after his election and attended through his presidency. So Barack will you continue to worship at the gym?? we shall see how the Messiah worships

The right claims it is more Christian, they “talk the talk” but their leaders do not “walk the walk”. Reagan and “W” never attended church. I can’t imagine Nixon spending much time in church. But we can identify churchs for Charter, Clinton, and Kennedy. The right is a fraud. Same goes for their myths about being more patriot, or working for small government

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About Progressive Revival

Diana Butler Bass and Paul Raushenbush both stand firmly within the Mainline Protestant tradition and, along with guest bloggers of all religious backgrounds are dedicated to the revival of religious progressivism and its influence in American politics.